NJ Officiant Who is familiar with a Filipino Non-Church wedding

michellemac14

Okk so i am having a hard time trying to figure out how to include Filipino traditions into a wedding that will be held outside of church. I already know that priests arent allowed to perform ceremonies outside of the Catholic church but i still would like to incorporate some traditional Filipino customs (usually done by a Catholic priest) into the ceremony. Please help!!!!

dinnaming

I think most officiants will work with you and/or allow you to create your own ceremony.  Or you could have a friend become a reverend online and they could marry you.

michellemac14

my problem is that ive never been to a Filipino wedding/ceremony where it was held outside of church so im not really sure what to tell the minister/officiant that im going to book LOL....

dinnaming

Yea, actually, we were going to do the Filipino traditions during our ceremony but I decided against it since it just made things too complicated and I want a short ceremony.  But I think it can be done.

peaches178

Contact Bishop George Lucey.  He's incredibly knowledgeable about different cultures, customs, and traditions and he's more than willing to incorporate any of those traditions into a ceremony. 

He's a former Roman Catholic priest and is now a bishop with the American National Catholic Church (very similar to the Roman Catholic church, but less strict in terms of all of the "rules"... kind of a contemporary Catholic church).  This is information about weddings: http://www.stfrancisnj.org/weddings.html

shoegirl41

Hi! I'm a Filipina & got married outside of the Roman Catholic Church & had a outdoor ceremony in a garden at the Valley Regency in Clifton/Montclair Hts. I did not have a mass because I didn't want the ceremony to be too long. But I did include the Filipino traditonal custom. The priest I had was an Italian Catholic priest who was ordained in Rome.  I also had a difficult time finding someone to marry us outside. This priest wasn't too familiar with the Filipino customs so I guided him through it.  We had the Filipino ceremony first with the cord & veil, gold coins brought down by the ring bearers. Then the American ceremony with the lighting of the unity candle & the vows.  I can refer him to you but he was quite expensive: $650 for an hour of his time. I suggest asking your Filipino parents the customs & tell the priest how you want the ceremony to be conducted. I typed a program for the ceremony for my guests & for the priest so he knew step by step the process. I'm happy to help you if you would like. Here's my email address: gbliloia@verizon.net

michellemac14

peaches: thanks for the recommendation... i will def contact him.

Shoegirl: $650 is def out of my price range... but thanks at least i know that it CAN be done. Im not alone afterall haha.... thanks

peaches178

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_nj-officiant-familiar-filipino-non-church-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:2535eea3-bb57-4f55-b11c-2979e5b65da5Post:6c22aa3c-b1f0-42da-b319-be7f76ab9d1d">Re: NJ Officiant Who is familiar with a Filipino Non-Church wedding</a>:
[QUOTE]peaches: thanks for the recommendation... i will def contact him. Shoegirl: $650 is def out of my price range... but thanks at least i know that it CAN be done. Im not alone afterall haha.... thanks
Posted by michellemac14[/QUOTE]
Sounds good!  FI and I love him, and hopefully you'll feel the same way.  :-)  Keep me posted either way!

NJhousewife22

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_nj-officiant-familiar-filipino-non-church-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:2535eea3-bb57-4f55-b11c-2979e5b65da5Post:406e6c12-b5af-401c-9641-2bd92056a3f6">Re: NJ Officiant Who is familiar with a Filipino Non-Church wedding</a>:
[QUOTE]Contact Bishop George Lucey.  He's incredibly knowledgeable about different cultures, customs, and traditions and he's more than willing to incorporate any of those traditions into a ceremony.  He's a former Roman Catholic priest and is now a bishop with the American National Catholic Church (very similar to the Roman Catholic church, but less strict in terms of all of the "rules"... kind of a contemporary Catholic church).  This is information about weddings: <a href="http://www.stfrancisnj.org/weddings.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.stfrancisnj.org/weddings.html</a>
Posted by peaches178[/QUOTE]

We booked him (from Peaches rec) and LOVE him. He definitely was aware of our Filipino customs that we wanted to incorporate and I think he'll even perform ceremonies outside the church.

chraron

I know this is a few years old, but does the Catholic Church still recognize marriages officiated by Bishop George Lucey?